Bear - 2018-02-15 12:02 PM Here’s my take on the rhetorical question, “what’s changed?” Gun availability and access is more difficult now, not less. Society has somehow managed to convince a lot of people that guns are inherently evil. Back in the 90s there was an effort to convince the public that “gas guzzling, polluting SUVs” were inherently evil. The paradigm is the same.....attribute evil human attributes to inanimate objects. Child rearing has changed. Teachers can’t spank. Indeed, parents can’t spank. Kids are thought to be more fragile. Spanking is abuse....cruel. 40-50 years ago, kids were taught the meaning of “consequences”, because if a kid misbehaved, a prompt ass tanning was always a consequence. That was a powerful behavior modifier. Other consequences included, a mouth washing with soap, grounding, actual “flunking” in school. Misbehaving in class might be dealt with by spanking, standing in a corner, standing out in the hall, or a trip to the principal’s office. All of these things, including flunking, carried a certain stigma, and that too was a consequence. There was little concern for the poor child’s fragile “self esteem”. In the case of bullying, moms and dads provided guidance on dealing with bullies. Peers also had certain ways of dealing with bullies. Most of us old farts know very well how a well aimed pop in the nose can be immediately therapeutic and even merciful behavior modification. Basically, kids learned how to cope with bullying and how to deal with bullies. Typically, although not always, there was a parent, usually a mom, in the home when the kids get home after school. Families saw value in sitting around the dinner table. Nowadays.....most of that is dumped, either on ritalin, someone outside of the family, or some electronic device. We worship God less today in America, and place more value on a pill or a device.